Misconceptions
by Double
Summary: Most people see them as fearful and mysterious, but really, they are only human. Want to know their real lives? Then take it from the insider's view. Chp 2: Genei Ryodan
1. Chapter 2 Genei Ryodan

**Misconceptions Chapter 2 - Genei Ryodan**

Fear, threatened, anger, and hatred, were just some phrases that come hand in hand when you mention the Genei Ryodan. That's only natural, and favourable, considering that their targets would put up a much better fight after hearing that the spiders were on his tail.

A lot of times, it wasn't the treasures they were after, but the thrill of robbery. This had replaced their initial greed for the valuables, after their first couple of grand schemes, and found that people outside the Meteorite Street were nothing more than scarecrows, at most.

Kuroro Lucifer hardly cares about how commoners thought of them, but just sometimes, he truly felt victimized by people's stereotypes. For example, the time when the Kuruta boy went against them. True, they had killed his whole tribe, but they could only blame themselves for being too weak. That's the rule of the game in staying alive.

Was it a sin to be too strong? The way ordinary people were blaming them was just like ants accusing the elephant of committing murder, when it was impossible for the elephant to see the specks of dust under its feet, and the ants couldn't scramble away fast enough.

People judge them evil because they did not abide by the commonly accepted moral boundaries between right and wrong. They lived by a different set of values, so no matter how guilty they were perceived to be, they had committed no sins in their own perspectives.

Kuroro looked at the wanted list the police posted on the internet, with their supposedly current thirteen members, including Hisoka, and the deceased Ulbogin and Pakunoda, and excluding their new member, Karuto Zoldick. They really needed to update their database. Some petty charges against them included the following:

_1) Robbery and illegal trade. According to our records, the terrorist / bandit group named Genei Ryodan has stolen, robbed, hijacked, and received by illegal means, more than 20 billion of valuables, causing many of the world's treasures to have fallen into the black markets. The atrocities of gaining things not through one's honest work are to be dealt severely by law. _

This is ridiculous. Not through honest work? They must have no idea how much planning and running around they had to do in order to carry out a scheme, putting their lives out there. Well, not exactly, since the security was getting weaker by the day.

But the point was, they did not understand the art of thievery at all, the exhilaration of holding a piece of treasure in your hands after wiping off all the barricades in your way. They did not know the sense of power when you are able to get anything you desire.

So what if some say that snatching others' possessions was not right, not fair? When was life ever fair? Back where they grew up, the Meteorite Street, the best thing they got after trash, was still trash. Just because they were born there deemed them to a lifetime surrounded by garbage was unfair, as with those people who could get all the beauties in the world simply because they had the money. They didn't deserve it.

Stealing was not a crime. It's only an act to right the wronged distribution of riches, and let people live according to their abilities. Let those self-claimed righteous people barf on about fairness after they've gained enough capabilities to capture them.

_2) Mass murder. Everywhere they go, the notorious Genei Ryodan would leave dead bodies trailing along. If everyone would recall the infamous York Shin auctions, where this filthy terrorist group barged into the auction site, killed all the securities along the way (about 500 dead, 30 still missing), and made off with all the auction items. The total number of people killed by them is uncountable._

Kuroro remembered, a little boy asking him this before, that how could they kill so many people they didn't even know, and not be punished by their own conscience? He was one of the little hostages they caught back in York Shin, and quite some guts he had.

That question had him stumped for a moment. Conscience? It wasn't that he didn't have one, just that like everything that's scarce in the world, one would not waste a rare object on someone or something that was not worth it. Same with his conscience. Why would he bother to spend it on the foolish human beings crawling all over the street? He had enough self-awareness to know that he wasn't a saint, overflowing with emotions to pity every living creature that crossed his way.

Simply because they did not know those that they kill, that they can end their lives without remorse. And vice versa, if someone could have a place in their not-so-spacious hearts, they would definitely go to hell and back for them.

And how was that any different from any so-called righteous associations out there?

_3) Destruction of public property. Due to the mysterious amount of enormous energy the Ryodan gives off when fighting, many buildings, lampposts and other public property are badly damaged. The source of this energy is yet unknown, but would be disastrous if put into military use. _

For one thing, the person who wrote this didn't know anything about nen. And a folly commoner indeed. Just think, why would they want to work for some government or military in exchange for some meager wages while they would rob all the treasures they wish for?

They did not work for anyone, only for themselves. And the Ryodan was part of them.

After listing the three major crimes the Ryodan had committed (only three, so little?), Kuroro went on to click on the profile of each member, and even more detailed accusations popped up.

_Name: Unknown  
__Gender: Female  
__Appearance: Around 20 years old, with bluish-purple hair often tied into a bushy ponytail. Seen wearing a modified kimono.  
__Charges: Can sew limbs together using invisible threads, and kills by hanging people in the air, it seems, also by invisible threads… Believe it however you want. _

Machi's threads were always something to marvel about. The way she could sew body fragments back together in less than a minute was better than any surgeon out there. Too bad killing was a lot more interesting than healing.

And to think she used to dream of being a seamstress. Kuroro muffled a snicker, thinking back to their childhood days, when Machi still was an ordinary schoolgirl. Oh, by the way, she modified that kimono herself.

_Name: Pakunoda  
__Gender: Female  
__Appearance: Wears a set of business casual, with a VERY short dress skirt, and a VERY low-cut jacket that are hardly appropriate. Brings a pistol around.  
__Charges: Fires her pistol at random, even shoots her teammates on the head. But sometimes the victim dies, sometimes not._

Kuroro thought back to the suit Pakunoda always wore. There never was any dress code for the Ryodan, or else they would lose their personalities. Or so Kuroro counseled himself, as he tried to ignore the blatant amount of skin Pakunoda was exposing. Nor did he ever want to know the reasons for her dress up.

Maybe it was a little disrespectful to the dead, but he had truly wanted to tell her to add some layers, and not try so hard, especially if it was in the middle of winter.

_Name: Coltopi  
__Gender: Unknown  
__Appearance: Long, blue hair that covers the whole person, including the face. Does not look like a human being.  
__Charges: Witnessing murder with no attempt to stop it. _

Oh, this charge is pathetic. Kuroro resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. Coltopi was probably the most… innocent one of them. Well, at least he hardly kills (was he able to when he could barely see?) Coltopi was only in charge of copying artifacts and act as a living radar. Granted, this skill wasn't all that rare, but at least his looks were creepy enough to uphold the Ryodan's name. Kuroro had no intention of making Genei Ryodan synonymous as modeling agency.

_Name: Nobunaga  
__Gender: Male  
__Appearance: Wears a yukata very loosely, with only a pair of briefs on the inside. Carries a katana around. Hair is often tied into a stick shape, pointing towards the sky, or hangs down to around shoulder length.  
__Charges: Seen chopping a man's head right off in the middle of a street. Beware of katana. It seems to be able to cut through anything, including cars. _

Well, cars aren't the most durable thing in the world. For Nobunaga, it wasn't his katana that cut, it's his nen, his aura that he injects into the katana that enables an ordinary knife to become the sharpest weapon.

But he had injected too much of himself into the katana that there wasn't much left in him, mainly, in his head.

_Name: Unknown  
__Gender: Male  
__Appearance: Black hair, small eyes, often seen wearing a bandana covering the lower half of his face. Very short. Do NOT mistake for a girl.  
__Charges: Torturing, and causing very painful physical and mental damage. Be grateful if he killed you right away. _

In fact, Kuroro had hardly ever seen Feitan kill anyone right away. It had always been his motto, that he didn't want to do people favors by granting them a quick death, because the faster you die, the less time you have to savor the one and only trial you have for death.

Kuroro remembered that when they were still young, Feitan often ran around, asking people why were they afraid of death, when there was apparently nothing to live for? The adults would reply, they didn't live for anything, they just do. And there was no reason for death, as with there was no reason to live. They were non-existent beings to begin with.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Feitan didn't mind having someone to torture him, not because he couldn't feel the pain anyway, but that nobody was strong enough as of yet.

_Name: Unknown  
__Gender: Male  
__Appearance: Sometimes seen in an ancient Egyptian pharaoh costume, or common sports jersey. No brows.  
__Charges: Snapping victims' necks using bare hands. _

For a member who joined relatively late (as in not part of the six people they started out with), he took in the Ryodan's regulations more than completely. Together with Feitan, they make up the cold-blooded abide-by-Ryodan-rules pair. They might seem too heartless sometimes, but that was what you have to be to tend to the greater good of the team, not self.

In other words, it prevents the Ryodan from suffering from an overdose of female emotional surges.

_Name: Unknown  
__Gender: Female  
__Appearance: Looks like a completely harmless teenage girl, wearing black turtleneck and jeans, with ridiculously big pair of glasses.  
__Charges: Seen killing using a vacuum machine that talks… _

Kuroro recalled being very surprised when a meek little teenage girl went up to him and asked for permission to join the Ryodan. He had no idea if the girl had heard too many wild tales about them and had her ambitions twisted the wrong way. But those thoughts went away after he saw her materialize the Deme-chan. Luckily Shizuku didn't take his incredulity to heart, but then, she doesn't hold anything in her brain long enough for it to become memory.

From then on, Kuroro learnt not to a book by its cover.

But their newest member, Karuto Zoldick, was way over the line. People always said how terrifying the Zoldick family was, and now Kuroro finally had to admit that they were indeed, perverse.

_Name: Shalnak  
__Gender: Male  
__Appearance: Looks like a completely harmless teenage boy, with blonde hair and green eyes. Professional hunter.  
__Charges: Manipulation, misusing the hunter license, and having a brain that works too well._

Even though Shalnak's manipulating abilities weren't the rarest thing in the world, he was indeed the brain of the Ryodan, right after Kuroro, of course. He could always bring a sense of intellectual sensibility to the team, which his members desperately lacked sometimes.

_Name: Unknown  
__Gender: Male  
__Appearance: Gorilla-like giant. Picture a caveman.  
__Charges: Kills using extremely powerful punches that has destructive force of a nuclear bomb. Can even kill by shouting. _

Physically, Ulbogin was definitely the toughest of them all, loves battling, a tad rash, but nonetheless a clever fighter. Despite the way he seemed, he would be the perfect prospect for a husband, since the sense to protect actually initiated his deeper potential. That was why other members preferred to stay on the sidelines when Ulbogin was there, and also why they were all too careless with the Kuruta boy.

Ulbogin and Nobonaga were very alike, a traditional chivalry like that of a samurai running in their veins. Others above self, loyalty before love, and they never betray their friends, a word that was hardly spoken between the Ryodan, but everyone knew it to be there.

It took Ulbogin's death to remind them that they still had a heart, and it could still hurt. But seeing Nobonaga's outburst and tears, they couldn't help but feel that this type of reminders were best to be kept to a minimum.

_Name: Unknown  
__Gender: Male  
__Appearance: Frankenstein.  
__Charges: Hands will turn into guns during a battle, and can even shoot down helicopters. Accounts for greater part of the massacre. _

Opposed to his appearance, Franklin was probably one of their most gentle members. He's always calm and acted almost like a grandfather to Shizuku, but in outsiders' eyes, they would always fear him for his sheer bulk in size.

So instead of trying to show people that you are not what you look, which would only be a silly waste of time, Franklin just went according to the majority's opinions. It's enough that only the people who meant something to you understood who you were, and you could share your gentleness with them.

_Name: Unknown  
__Gender: Unknown  
__Appearance: Looks like a back from the dead mummy, with bandages wrapped all around him. Looks neither alive nor human.  
__Charges: Looking creepy… _

Honestly, even Kuroro didn't know much about this member. He entered the Ryodan through recommendation from Phinx, when they were in Egypt for a scheme. Phinx had swore on his life that Bonorenof would bring great benefits to them, but so far, he had been a good member and all, but Kuroro couldn't see anything special yet.

Maybe Phinx just wanted a mummy to go with his image of a pharaoh.

_Name: Hisoka  
__Gender: Male  
__Appearance: Often wears a clown's costume, with his face painted, a star on the right cheek and a teardrop on the left. Hair often dyed into bluish-silver or bright orange. Brings a pack of cards everywhere he goes. Professional hunter.  
__Charges: Indiscriminate killing, sexual harassment and pedophilic inclinations. _

Well, for once, the police's image is completely in unison with Kuroro's own. Maybe Hisoka could be more perverted than they imaged. But Kuroro had no wish to poke into Hisoka's affairs with a ten feet pole.

He's no longer a Ryodan member anyway. Lucky them.

_Kuroro Lucifer (Leader of Genei Ryodan)  
__Gender: Male  
__Appearance: Wears a black trench coat with furry collars and cuffs, and has an inverted golden cross on the back. Cross-shaped symbol on his forehead. Hair sleeked back, and wears round blue earrings. Can disguise himself. Looks about twenty years old.  
__Charges: The mastermind of all of Genei Ryodan's devious schemes. Hardly kills personally anymore, because there are plenty of subordinates to do that for him. That, however, does not lighten his crimes. Beware of above average appearances. _

It didn't seem that fair for him to comment on himself, although he had to admit that if he didn't slick his hair back, he would look younger than his real age, and probably lose the image of authority in the Ryodan. He could always wait another ten years to look young.

The Genei Ryodan killed, stole, murdered, destroyed and more, because they had the power to, and did not want to go by the rules set out for the society at large, which had excluded them out in the first place.

But they are human, after all.


	2. Chapter 1 The Zoldick Family

**Misconceptions 1 - The Zoldick Family**

The Zoldick family isn't as what people always think it is. In fact, their stereotype of the infamous assassin family is so disproportionate that anyone who actually knows the reality behind the hundred-ton doors no longer bothers to correct their mistakes.

But just for the sake of it, here are some most common misinterpretations, which never fail to make Illumi roll his eyes and question if normal human beings (excluding the Zoldicks of course) are really distant relatives of moles.

_1) The Zoldicks are all cold-blooded assassins who drink blood as water and eat human flesh for dinner. _

"Mom! Why aren't we having steak for dinner?" comes Milluki's indignant wail as dinner is served.

"Because we've been having steak five days in a roll, and it's time you give some thought for others. I'm still on a diet, you know." Kiyoko replies, having long given up on trying to implant the idea of beauty into her second son's mind.

"But all veggies and mineral water? I'd rather get strapped to the electric chair again! Don't you agree with me, father?"

Silva just munches on his broccoli as grimly as possible.

_2) The Zoldicks all look like monsters, gigantic and muscular, who can rip a man's head off with a single hand. _

Other than that great-grandfather Mahha looks like a shrunken prune, Milluki resembles a pig, and their mother can easily give people the creeps with her visor and bandaged face, Illumi could safely say that the Zoldicks are rather physically appealing, if not sometimes to the wrong gender.

Grandfather Zeno would frequently take out his old photos and show them to his grandchildren, that he looked way more handsome than his son when he was at his prime.

Silva doesn't bother much with appearances, because nobody could miss the authoritative presence he gives off with his strong build and masculine features. He does, however, spend quite some time on his hair.

Killua could easily be mistaken for a good young lad, if not for the mischievous spark in his eyes. But even if he did get into any trouble, no sir or madam could bear to raise their voices on him. It is not everyday that you encounter such a fine-looking child, so what's the harm in losing a few dollars?

Karuto is the cutest, most obedient kid Illumi thinks he'd ever laid eyes on. With the fair complexion and large, cat-like eyes that comes with being a Zoldick, Karuto is a perfect imitation of a traditional Japanese porcelain doll. Except he happens to be a boy.

And last, but not least, Illumi looks at himself in a mirror. He never find himself exceptional. Maybe his hair is a tad too long, his eyes a little too large, his skin a bit too fair, his waist some inches too thin, his voice some decibels too soft, and etc. But these are not enough to explain why he's always bathed in appraising looks from men, and not-so-friendly glares from women, do they?

_3) The Zoldicks are inhumane towards their children. _

Illumi won't call the training he went through as a child inhumane. Well, it may seem so to the general public, but the Zoldicks measure things using a different set of indices.

You are the result of the environment you live in. If you grow up playing hide-and-seek with countless traps and weapons, sleep with the fear of being stabbed, eat dinner while trying to tell what poison is in the rice this time, you wouldn't think of these as abnormal.

What's the harm in teaching your children a few extra skills?

_4) The Zoldicks will do anything if you offer them enough money. _

Zeno likes to stick an idiom on his clothing, and the most frequent one is probably "Act within one's capabilities." It is a golden rule that the Zoldicks do not accept assignments that may endanger their lives. Although the Zoldicks' capabilities extend to a wide range, they are simply not almighty and supernatural as many of their clients believe.

Killing the mafia's ten old men was acceptable, since the Genei Ryodan themselves had disposed of the Injuu. Taking on the Genei Ryodan's leader was also acceptable, because they didn't have to go all out against Kuroro, since the ten old men would most probably have died by then.

A job such as killing off a whole military army would never be accepted.

Well, if they have more than 10000 soldiers, and are well equipped, that is.

_5) The Zoldicks do not have companions, partners, allies, associates, assistants, or any connections that make them look remotely social. Especially not friends. _

Which explains why the Zoldick heir would be running free, tagging along after the most straightforward (or brainless, to put it more bluntly) boy Illumi's ever seen. With their father's permission.

This is probably the only rumour he agrees with, or like to do so, only that the Zoldick family seem to be going through major reconstructions with their traditional beliefs.

Which is why a certain red-haired pedophilic predatory psychotic killing manic is following him up the Kururu Mountain. And he's allowing it. Illumi doesn't even want to imagine his family's faces once Hisoka makes his introduction.

The next thing you know, Kiyoko would be berating her son about choices in making friends, the hardships of maintaining a relationship, and her regrets about not warning Illumi against perverted red-heads.

_6) The Zoldicks are about as emotional as a vacuum machine. _

Illumi really doesn't know what gave people the impression that the Zoldicks are emotionless. They are human, and all human beings have emotions, simple as that. Admitted, they must be very

Can't they see that Zeno is fully capable of being cynic and skeptical to the extent of telling Kuroro off? And his father had been so kind and caring when he gave Killua the little prep-talk about not betraying his friends.

Of course, his mother's constant hysterics and Milluki's sick obsession with figurines go on the other extreme of the emotions scale.

As for Killua, nobody would believe that he's a Zoldick even if you tell it in their faces, unless the kid was in a foul mood that day.

Illumi thinks of himself as being very emotional. He always takes good care of his siblings, and is there for his friend (singular, and he isn't sure if the term's appropriate). His eyes may be a little blank, which may be why people are often afraid of him, but can't they hear how lively his voice is?

Well, at least Hisoka should know enough, considering the number of times he had provoked Illumi into a rampage and the two have a less-than-harmless fight, or the times the assassin had blushed under the magician's perverted scrutiny.

But all in all, Illumi doesn't mind that the general public hangs on to these ridiculous rumours. After all, the Zoldick does have a reputation to upkeep, and they do not want to turn from the most fearsome family to a laughing-stock like Hisoka.

Although nobody really dares to laugh at Hisoka.

And he may very possibly become a new member of the Zoldick in the near future…


End file.
